


between the lines

by kireinayuta



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Boyfriends, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Insecurity, Kissing, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee Are Best Friends, M/M, Pining, Soft Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Soft Moon Taeil, Unrequited Crush, taeil best boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23728822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kireinayuta/pseuds/kireinayuta
Summary: "'M love you," Donghyuck whimpers, feeling one of Taeil's hands snake under his t-shirt. He belatedly realizes that it's still Taeil's purple t-shirt from the morning, but whatever. Taeil's hand runs over the skin of his tummy before holding his waist, and it has Donghyuck sighing out in content."I love you too, my baby."
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Moon Taeil
Comments: 10
Kudos: 220





	between the lines

**Author's Note:**

> aha this is my first time writing hyuckil so it may not be the best ahshdhd i might’ve gotten the dynamic wrong but i’m working on it :’)

It's easy to say that Donghyuck never gets a good rest. It's easy to say because it's true. It's the sad truth, but the truth nonetheless. 

It's easy to say that Donghyuck is always tired. It's easy to say because it's also true. He slugs around whenever cameras aren't around, but it's whatever at this point. 

It's easy to say that Donghyuck loves his job. It's easy to say because it is, in fact, also very true. He glows golden after coming down from the stage, triumphs with himself when he finally gets choreography down. 

It's easy to say Donghyuck isn't expecting the news about the future of NCT DREAM. It's easy to say because Donghyuck has believed that they'd be leaving each other, despite what they've always promised each other. He's been holding himself back from thinking about their impending futures. 

But that was before Donghyuck had been called into a meeting, a meeting which ripped him out of bed way too early in the morning. 

Ripped him out of Taeil's arms way too early in the morning. 

Despite having an alarm set, since he's been informed about the early morning meeting since last night, he can't find the willpower to get up and out of the warmth. What makes things more annoying is that he's currently in the dorm on the tenth floor, but his room is on the ninth floor. He mentally curses himself for sliding into Taeil's bed last night, and hopes he can convince the older boy to let him borrow some of his clothes. 

"Turn it off, baby."

Taeil's groan is heard and felt reverberating through the almost silent air around them, and in Donghyuck's ear, which is pressed right against his chest. 

It's Donghyuck's turn to groan as he throws his arm aimlessly towards the bedside table, blindly tapping his phone screen and shutting the alarm off. 

Silence ensues once again between them, and now Donghyuck can clearly hear Taeil breathing. It's oddly comforting, and it lulls Donghyuck back to sleep within an second. 

Taeil, however, doesn't let that happen. He's always been the more responsible one anyway. 

So he reluctantly pulls away from Donghyuck, mentally rolling his eyes at how the younger boy whines, with his eyes still closed. He's better at waking up early in the morning, coming from his age he guesses, but Donghyuck simply grumbles and burrows into the blankets once more. 

"Hey," Taeil chastises, yanking the blanket off of the younger and pursing his lips when he squirms at the cold air. "You have somewhere to be." 

"I'm tired, Taeil," Donghyuck justifies, making move to yank the blanket back onto his body, but Taeil hasn't let go of it, having had a feeling Donghyuck would pull this stunt. 

"You also have a meeting to be at in—" Taeil glances at Donghyuck's phone, tapping the screen and watching as the time pops up. "Forty-five minutes." 

At the reminder of how long he has, Donghyuck seems to snap out of his daze, slowly pushing himself up. Taeil doesn't rush this part, he knows that Donghyuck's least favourite part of the day is waking up; simply because he most probably didn't get a good sleep the night before. 

Donghyuck has a nasty habit of staying up way too late at night, falling asleep in the hours of the early morning. Taeil doesn't know why he does that to himself, and he feels like Donghyuck should've learned his lesson from the countless times he's lost on sleep because of his habit. 

But of course, he hasn't. 

"What time did you fall asleep?" Taeil asks once Donghyuck is sitting up, rubbing at his eyes to get rid of the bleariness. He frowns a bit when he sees the dark circles underneath the younger's eyes, but makes no comment on them. 

"Three thirty? Four?" Donghyuck mumbles, squinting his eyes to look at Taeil. The bright sunshine pouring in through the window is making it difficult for Donghyuck to open his eyes fully without them burning. 

"Baby, you have to start sleeping more," Taeil sighs, repeating the words for what feels like the thousandth time. "It's not good for you to be running on this little rest."

"I'll be okay, I'm not old like you," Donghyuck teases, patting Taeil's cheek as he makes way to get out of them. He really doesn't want to, would honestly rather do anything except this, but he knows that he's probably cut his time down to forty minutes. He has to shower and eat something, because Taeil won't let him leave unless he does, which leads him to be on a severe time crunch. 

Taeil bites his lip as he watches Donghyuck stagger a bit once he stands up. One of the younger's hands instinctively makes its way up to his head, squeezing his eyes shut and willing the dizziness to surpass. 

"Haechannie—"

"You'll make me cereal, right?" Donghyuck cuts off, taking slow steps and heading towards Taeil's closet. He sifts through the latter's clothes, and settles on Taeil's black sweatpants and purple oversized t-shirt. He also sees a black bucket hat hanging from a hook, and he grabs that as well. 

"Is that what you'd like?" The older boy asks, also making way to step out of bed. 

Donghyuck yawns before he answers.

"Yes please," he nods, speaking in a cutesy voice. Taeil doesn't know what he's trying to achieve by doing that, but it's not like he was complaining at the sight of Donghyuck acting so adorable and lovely this early in the morning. 

"Okay, go, get ready quickly," Taeil agrees, ushering Donghyuck out of his room and into the bathroom. 

It's completely quiet through the rest of the dorm, which makes sense because it was way too early for anyone to be doing anything other than sleeping. Taeil tries to make the least amount of noise possible as he fetches Donghyuck a big bowl and pours the walnut honey cereal in. He sets the milk jug beside the bowl, not wanting to add it just yet in case it gets too soggy for Donghyuck's liking. 

The younger is coming out of the bathroom freshly showered in record time, smelling of Taeil's eucalyptus body wash, but he doesn't look any more awake. 

"Thanks," he mumbles, pouring milk into his bowl and making quick work of shovelling spoonful after spoonful into his mouth. 

"Stop eating so fast, you're gonna get indigestion," Taeil tsks, heading to grab a mug from the cabinet. He turns on the kettle and pulls a teabag out of a different cabinet, waiting for his water to boil. 

Donghyuck eyes the teabag while drinking the leftover milk out of his bowl. 

"Can I have one too?" He ends up asking, breaking the comfortable silence between them. 

Taeil doesn't answer the question directly, only turns around and grabs the English breakfast teabag he knows is Donghyuck's favorite, asking the younger to get a travel mug. 

The water finishes boiling not too long after, and Taeil makes Donghyuck's tea before his own; Donghyuck has to leave within the next three minutes if he wants to make it to the meeting on time. 

Donghyuck hands him the travel mug and Taeil spends a good forty seconds dipping the teabag in and out, exactly for how long Donghyuck does, before tossing the teabag and screwing the lid shut.

"It's very hot, baby," Taeil warns, despite Donghyuck probably already acknowledging that fact. He can never be too sure with Donghyuck though, he was always full of surprises. Even more when he was in a hurry. 

Taeil hands Donghyuck his mug once the latter has his shoes on, hat on his head, glasses covering his eyes and mask tucked under his chin. 

"Thanks Moonie," Donghyuck mumbles, pressing a light kiss onto the older boy's cheek. He then covers his mouth with the mask, grabs the tea and says he'll be back for Taeil first thing after the meeting finishes.

—

The last fucking thing Donghyuck expects to see in the meeting room is Mark Lee. 

He's the last one to arrive, and he stands by the door with his mouth gaping. 

Gaping at Chenle and Jisung having a casual conversation with Mark. Gaping at Renjun animatedly talking about something with Mark. Gaping at Jeno casually fiddling with Mark's fingers. Gaping at Jaemin nonchalantly pulling the hair at the back of Mark's neck.

Mark finally notices him.

"I thought we could leave together, but you weren't in the ninth floor dorm?" He says, drawing everyone else's attention to him too. 

Donghyuck is still stupidly standing by the door, and he's quick to move and let the door close behind him. He shuffles into the only empty seat left, next to Jisung on the far left. 

"I was in the tenth," Donghyuck simply answers, putting his half drunken mug of tea down. "The hell are you doing here? And why didn't you tell me you were also called in?" 

"I was looking for you last night but Johnny said that you left sometime ago." Mark reasons, brushing the other boys' touches off of him when he sees all the staff and higher ups walk into the room. 

"Mm." Donghyuck only hums, pretending you ignore how weird and unsettling this situation was, instead focusing on greeting everyone once the meeting starts. 

The meeting starts, and it's dull and boring, until, the final announcement. 

"—Which means that promotions as duos, units and as seven can proceed once promotions for this album are complete." 

Silence stuns the seven boys, and Jaemin is the first to explode. 

"What?" He shrieks, looking back and forth between Mark and the higher ups. 

"Wait," Jeno pipes in, closing his eyes and shaking his head, as if that'll help clear his thoughts. "Duos? Units? Seven?" 

And so Donghyuck sits there, as do the rest of them, as management and higher ups explain what NCT DREAM's new concept will be. 

Listens as everything he's dwelled on and everything he's known about his future is flushed down the drain, listens to everyone erupting into cheers beside him. 

They're happy.

So Donghyuck feigns it for them too. 

—

As promised, Donghyuck returns to Taeil after the meeting. 

Except this time, the tenth floor dorm is buzzing with life, and he sees too many beads floating around to assume that other members haven't come up. However, there's still several heads missing, so Donghyuck interrogates the closest member. 

"Where's everyone else?" He asks Doyoung, who's talking to Taeyong in the kitchen. The both of them stop talking to look at Donghyuck, who's drumming his fingers impatiently against his thigh as he waits for an answer. 

"Oh, good morning to you too," Doyoung sarcastically greets. 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes.

"The relay live streams started today. Jungwoo, Jaehyun, Yuta and Taeil hyung are filming," Taeyong says, finally supplying Donghyuck with an answer. 

The only thing he can think of though, is how Taeil didn't tell him that he had to leave for a live stream today. 

"Thanks hyung," Donghyuck says curtly, making way to put his shoes on again. He didn't have a reason to be here anymore, he came to talk to Taeil, and the latter wasn't even around. 

He heads back down a floor and steps into the ninth floor dorm, not surprised when it's silent and empty. He sighs, taking his shoes off again and grabbing a bottle of water from the kitchen. His tea is long gone, and he simply desires to tell Taeil everything the meeting had entailed, but it seemed as if he couldn't do that for a while now. 

He can't say he doesn't appreciate the silence though, finding it soothing. It's been a long time since he's been somewhere completely quiet, and his mind already feels less cluttered. It's a bit easier to breathe too, and Donghyuck honestly wouldn't mind having a quiet place to himself for some time. He doesn't know how much longer the live stream will take, but he doesn't want to think about it either. He simply leaves his travel mug in the sink to soak in soap and water, and heads to his bedroom. 

He's not in the bedroom often, finding himself in Taeil's bed sometimes three or more times a week. He has a pile of laundry that's rotting away in his hamper, courtesy of him not wearing his own clothes. Donghyuck deems the emptiness of the dorm reason enough to heave his hamper to the laundry room. 

It's eerily calm, given how there isn't a single peep that can be heard aside from his own movements, which is why Donghyuck almost jumps out of his skin when his phone starts ringing. 

He'd been folding his clothes in the laundry room, but his phone is all the way in his room. The only reason he's able to hear it is because there's no one else around. 

When he spots the device on his bed, illuminated with an incoming call from Taeil, Donghyuck has to fight the urge to roll his eyes.

"What?" He asks once he answers. 

"Whoa, is that any way to greet your boyfriend?" Taeil gasps, and Donghyuck can tell he's faking his astonishment. Donghyuck wishes he was faking his annoyance. 

"What do you want, hyung?" He asks again, walking back to the laundry room. He still has half of his laundry left to fold, so he sets Taeil on speaker and leaves his phone in the counter. 

"Where are you? Why is it so quiet?" Taeil's tone gives away that he's a bit worried, not knowing where Donghyuck could be that it's so silent. 

"I'm doing laundry," he dryly answers.

"Where, Donghyuck." Taeil says again, this time a bit sterner. 

Donghyuck throws his t-shirt down, grabbing his phone. 

"You didn't tell me you had a live to film," is what he says, once again steering away from answering the question. Despite wanting to see Taeil first thing after the meeting, he doesn't really think he can anymore. 

"I didn't know I was up today until two hours before filming," he supplies, and Donghyuck can hear shuffling on his side of the line. "Baby, I'll ask one more time. Where are you, hm?"

Donghyuck doesn't know why he's feeling so angry. 

Maybe it was because he had to wake up earlier than he'd ever want to this morning. Maybe it's because of what was discussed at the meeting. Maybe it was because Taeil hadn't told him he wouldn't be home after he came back from the meeting. Maybe it was because he was a hormonal teenager who was still growing, Donghyuck doesn't know. 

"Ninth." Is all he spits, hanging up immediately after. He knows that Taeil won't be the kindest to him when and if he sees him today, knows that he shouldn't have been so disrespectful to him just now.

But what's done is done, and all he can do is quietly fold his laundry and apologize to Taeil once he sees him. 

Donghyuck doesn't know how much time has passed, but he hears the front door open while he's putting his clothes away in his wardrobe. 

There's multiple footsteps, and there are also voices laughing. 

None of them are the sound of Taeil's laugh though. 

It pisses him off a bit, which is why he finds himself slamming his room door shut. He doesn't want to see anyone right now if it isn't Taeil. 

It's a bit childish he knows, being angry at Taeil while simultaneously not wanting to see anyone but him, but he is a child in their eyes anyways. And maybe he's behaving akin to a kid throwing a tantrum, but he doesn't want to think about it for now. 

For now, he'll crawl into his bed and catch up on the many hours of sleep he didn't get last night. It's a bit harder to fall asleep alone, but he also pushes that thought away, closing his eyes and drowning out the voices beyond the door. 

—

When he wakes up again, it's to his head in someone's lap, someone's fingers in his hair.

"Look who finally decided to wake up," Taeil coos, and Donghyuck only then acknowledges that it's him who's in his bed with him. "You've been knocked out for a while. It's already 8:00pm."

He grunts, rolling around until he was looking up at the ceiling, his head still cushioned on the older boy's thighs. He doesn't want to look at Taeil yet, knowing his resolve will crumble and that all he'll want to do is lay in his arms.

But that doesn't mean he's going to ignore Taeil's hands when they move from his hair to his chest. Donghyuck grabs at the older boy's hands, playing with them between his own. 

"Why didn't you tell me you had to go film?"

"I didn't find out until before filming."

"Why didn't you text me?"

"You were in a meeting, you should pay attention."

"Why weren't you here when I came back from the meeting?" 

Donghyuck knows that his last question is stupid, and he already knows the answer to it anyways. Regardless of what he knows though, Donghyuck doesn't stop the question from tumbling past his lips. 

"Did you miss me?" Taeil teases, even though he senses the depth behind Donghyuck's question. Yeah, they have serious conversations, but there's humour or lightheartedness woven in between their words. Neither of them find stuck up conversation appealing, and humour is just the way they flow better. 

"I always miss you," Donghyuck admits, still not wanting to look Taeil in the face. "When I leave your room in the morning, I miss you until I see you again. When we ride in different cars, I miss you. When you go to the bathroom, I miss you."

Taeil laughs above him, hearty and deep and everything Donghyuck has learned to adore about the man. 

"Why are you laughing at me?" 

"Because you're adorable," Taeil answers, without having to even think about it. "And I'm here now Hyuckie, what is it that you wanted to see me after the meeting for?" 

"Your tea was really good," Donghyuck answers, clearing his throat and intertwining his fingers with one of Taeil's hands. "So thank you for the tea." 

Taeil hums, obviously not buying that that was what Donghyuck wanted to talk about. He doesn't ask about for the next few minutes though, giving Donghyuck the chance to speak up if he was going to. When three minutes pass in silence, he asks another question. 

"Why were you mad on the phone earlier?"

Donghyuck knew this question was coming, but that didn't mean he had an answer prepared. He chews on his bottom lip, thinking of how to say his thoughts in a way which wouldn't make him seem like an asshole. 

"Pass?" He tries, and Taeil simply clicks his tongue in distaste. 

"No passes allowed, baby."

"Hyung," Donghyuck sighs, squeezing the older boy's hand tight. He takes a deep breath, and even though he isn't looking at Taeil, he still closes his eyes. "Dream can have seven member comebacks now." 

"That's great!" Taeil cheers, similar to the way Jaemin did, the way Jeno did, the way Renjun, Chenle and Jisung did. 

The way Mark did. 

The way Donghyuck didn't. 

"Is it?" He asks fragilely, as if he was scared to speak the words into existence. And to be honest, he was. 

"Why?" Donghyuck can hear the way Taeil's voice trails off confusedly. 

"Do you remember why we got close in the first place?" Donghyuck mumbles, bringing up a topic they weren't too fond of talking about. 

"Baby—"

"After the initial sadness of realizing that I wouldn't be able to see my best friend all too often anymore, I kinda liked the idea of Mark not being in Dream." 

Taeil doesn't say anything, already knowing the story. 

Donghyuck had been harbouring the biggest crush on Mark since pre debut, and after he had graduated from NCT DREAM, it was rough because he thought it was weird how he didn't mind not seeing Mark all the time. It meant he could finally get over him. 

That's why he and Donghyuck started spending so much time together near the end of 2018, after Mark's graduation. Ever since then, their relationship had only strengthened, and once Superhuman promotions had started, they were officially dating. 

Donghyuck's never felt love until Taeil showed him the beauty of it, never thought he was good enough for love until Taeil showered him with affection. Donghyuck's always been on the giving side, and Taeil is the only one who gives everything back equally, and then some. 

So yeah, Donghyuck didn't particularly like himself when it dawned on him that he was happy that Mark graduated from Dream, happy that he wouldn't have to see him all the time, ignoring the other's members obvious pain and sadness. He's voiced these out to Taeil before, and the latter did a great job at reminding Donghyuck that his emotions were valid; he was hurt and didn't have the emotional capacity to think of anyone else at the moment. 

Now, however, after he's finally learned that he probably shouldn't have been bouncing off the walls a few weeks after Mark's graduation, the feeling of dread comes back after it's announced that he's allowed to participate in promotions with them. 

And it doesn't make sense. 

He doesn't know why he's feeling like this; he's so confused and angry because it doesn't make any sense. And he had absolutely no right taking it out on Taeil, sweet and beautiful Taeil who only ever does the best and wants Donghyuck to have the world, but he just doesn't know what to do. 

Why isn't he happy that Mark will be spending more time with him? There's nothing wrong with their relationship, they're best friends and have been acting the part. 

There's nothing more. 

"Can you look at me, baby?" Taeil's soft voice asks a few minutes of silence later. 

Donghyuck shakes his head. He simply holds Taeil's hands closer to his heart.

"Why not? You're so pretty Haechannie, can't I look at you?"

Donghyuck can hear the pout in Taeil's voice, and he knows that the only reason the latter is doing that is because he knows that it makes Donghyuck weak. He's a sucker for seeing Taeil be adorable. 

So he reluctantly turns around until he's laying on his stomach, still resting on Taeil's thighs, but this time looking up at him. 

"Ah, there you are," Taeil gasps softly, beautiful smile crawling onto his face. 

And Taeil's always like this. Always so unabashed with the way he lets Donghyuck know how he's feeling, always so open with his endless adoration for him. 

Taeil is always willing to give, give, give Donghyuck everything, always willing to hold, kiss, hug Donghyuck whenever he needs it. 

He's always unafraid. 

Donghyuck remembers when he was like that. Donghyuck wishes he could be like that again.

Before he knows it, his nose is stinging. His eyes are welling up and the whole process just speeds up when the lovely smile wipes off of Taeil's face to be replaced with a frown. 

Donghyuck hates how he's the reason. 

"Baby don't cry," Taeil says, bringing his hands up to cup Donghyuck's small face. Taeil's hands themselves are small, but they still manage to hold Donghyuck's head in his hands. The younger really likes the way it feels. 

"Hyung," Donghyuck whispers, closing his eyes and letting his tears fall onto his cheeks. He sniffs, and lets Taeil pull him up and onto his lab. When one of the latter's arms comes to hold him around the waist, Donghyuck sobs.

"Shh," Taeil soothes, hand around his waist patting a steady rhythm onto his back. He rocks them slightly left and right, humming a soft tune in his ear. Taeil always knows what to do, and he's so good at knowing what Donghyuck needs. 

Donghyuck's own arms come up to wrap around Taeil's torso, and he finds unexplainable comfort in being able to feel the older boy's heartbeat against his own. It does wonders to calm him down, and he's down to the occasional sniffle in no time. 

"Hyung," he calls again, this time more collectedly. "I don't even know why I'm so scared. That makes me even more terrible, doesn't it?" 

Taeil doesn't like the way Donghyuck sounds with tears stuck in his throat, doesn't like the way Donghyuck sounds choking on his own emotions. 

"You're not terrible," Taeil says, wiping away at Donghyuck's wet cheeks. "You're just having a hard time right now."

"What am I scared of? I don't even like Mark like that," Donghyuck insists, closing his eyes again and having his bottom lip tremble. "It's not fair to him."

Taeil doesn't say anything for a few seconds, just keeps patting the rhythm into Donghyuck's back, and keeps rubbing his thumb over his cheekbone. 

"Is that why you were angry after the meeting? Because you didn't know what you were feeling?" 

Oh.

Taeil can read him like an open book. 

Donghyuck doesn't get to say anything before Taeil is speaking again.

"Can I say something?" He asks, and Donghyuck really wants to say something along the lines of, 'Well, you are already', but decides against it. Instead, he nods. "You may not be scared of the constant rejection you used to feel around Mark... But maybe you feel scared of the possibility of spending so much time together? Your dynamics were different while Mark was still apart of Dream and after he graduated. The unknown is scary. Does that make sense?"

Taeil is licking his lips in anticipation as he waits for Donghyuck's answer, so he busies himself with cleaning up the younger's messy fringe. 

"Maybe. I still shouldn't have thought like that though." Donghyuck mumbles after some time, looking into Taeil's eyes for what feels like the first time today. 

"Baby, do you enjoy torturing yourself with these thoughts? Your feelings are valid, being scared is valid. You don't know any better when it comes to you two, it's okay to be feeling scared, or whatever it is that you're feeling." Taeil assures, keeping his voice soft so that he doesn't scare Donghyuck with the weight of his words. 

"I'm sorry for getting angry at you. I don't really care that you had to go film, I get it anyway. But I do feel better after talking to you," Donghyuck sniffs again, leaning in and pressing a kiss to Taeil's forehead. "I'm sorry, hyung."

"I was never mad, Haechannie," Taeil coos, also leaving a delicate kiss onto the other's forehead. "I'm just glad you're feeling better after telling me everything." 

Donghyuck moves his hands from around Taeil's torso to cup his face, leaning in and gently kissing him. 

Their lips work softly in tandem, an easygoing pace set between them as they savour the feel and taste of the other. 

"'M love you," Donghyuck whimpers, feeling one of Taeil's hands snake under his t-shirt. He belatedly realizes that it's still Taeil's purple t-shirt from the morning, but whatever. Taeil's hand runs over the skin of his tummy before holding his waist, and it has Donghyuck sighing out in content. 

"I love you too, my baby." 

And Donghyuck forgets about the meeting, forgets about Mark, forgets about all the ugly thoughts clawing at his brain. 

Because Taeil is right here in front of him, holding him, and kissing him. 

Nothing could ever go wrong with Taeil by him.


End file.
